Sometimes “MMA math” works out logically, and sometimes there’s simply no sense to it.
Fighter A defeats Fighter B, who holds a previous win over Fighter C. Then Fighter A and Fighter C are matched up. On paper, Fighter A should, in theory, defeat Fighter C, yet mixed martial arts is such an unpredictable sport that you usually can’t rely on results to be that straightforward.
Saturday’s 13-bout UFC Fight Night card in Baku, Azerbaijan, however, ended in an example of the former.
Rafael Fiziev, who is one of only a handful of UFC fighters to represent Azerbaijan, entered the weekend on a 1-4 slump with his lone win during that stretch coming over Ignacio Bahamondes one year ago at the UFC’s debut event in Baku.
Meanwhile, his opponent, Manuel Torres, entered his first UFC main event spot with a 5-1 record in the organization, with that one setback being to Bahamondes.
When Fiziev and Torres stepped into the Octagon opposite one another at the National Gymnastics Arena, the math checked out, so to speak (Fiziev > Bahamondes > Torres), and Fiziev got his hand raised — and he did so in thrilling fashion.
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Following a closely contested opening five minutes that Torres ended with a stiff strike that got Fiziev’s attention, Fiziev wasted no time in Round 2.
Fiziev dropped Torres with a partially blocked spinning wheel kick and blitzed him with a furious barrage of follow-up punches until Torres went out on the canvas just 15 seconds into the round.
This bout was just the second time Torres has seen a second round, as 19 of his first 20 pro bouts ended within five minutes. Torres’s record fell to 17-4 after getting stopped.
Fiziev is a citizen of the world. He was born in Kazakhstan to an Azerbaijani father and Russian mother, but was mostly raised in Kyrgyzstan. He has spent most of his fighting career training out of Thailand, with occasional stints in the United States, but he officially represents Azerbaijan when he walks to the cage.
Fiziev broke down in tears while celebrating the victory.
The skilled striker with a Muay Thai background got a decision win in front of his home fans a year ago when he upset Bahamondes, a touted and lengthy 155-pound finisher just like Torres. Fiziev used a lot of wrestling to secure that win, but he upped the ante this time around.
Fiziev had the crowd on their feet and going wild as he picked up his first stoppage win since his 2022 knockout of former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
The win over Torres was Fiziev’s second spinning KO in the UFC. He used the same technique to put away Brad Riddell late in 2021.
Fiziev has been in the UFC since 2019 and has been a consistent top-10 lightweight contender for about the past five years, with other notable wins over respected veterans Renato Moicano and Bobby “King” Green.
The 33-year-old Fiziev is still in his prime fighting years, and he knows better than most what it’s like to share the cage with the best in the world.
Justin Gaethje turned the lightweight division upside down earlier in the month with his upset win over Ilia Topuria at the UFC’s White House event to become the undisputed 155-pound champion, and Fiziev has spent 30 total minutes competing against the new titleholder.
Two of Fiziev’s losses during his aforementioned 1-4 stretch were competitive three-round decisions to Gaethje, both of which earned the duo Fight of the Night bonuses. The first was a majority decision for Gaethje, meaning one of the three judges scored it a draw. The rematch took place two years later when Fiziev returned from a long injury layoff to replace Gaethje’s original opponent on only a couple weeks’ notice, and Gaethje won a unanimous two-rounds-to-one decision.
Fiziev has also undergone multiple surgeries within the past few years after blowing out his knee against Mateusz Gamrot in 2023, which added to the emotion he felt after beating Torres.
As for Torres, it’ll be back to the drawing board for the 31-year-old from Mexico, who entered his scrap with Fiziev riding consecutive first-round knockouts of Drew Dober and Grant Dawson in 2025.
Fighters from Azerbaijan went a combined 3-1 on Saturday’s card, which was the second event in the country in as many years.
Nine of the 13 fights ended in either a KO/TKO or submission finish, including an eight-second knockout from one of the top 205-pound prospects in the sport.